‘I think our Cecil’s never looked so good,’ he told them, and he included the boys in his broadest smile. ‘Well done, all of you.’
‘Does that mean we can come to the show?’ Henry demanded, and Matt nodded.
‘Of course. I promised, didn’t I?’
Yes, but they’d hardly believed him. William and Henry exchanged significant glances and Erin could tell Matt had gone up another notch in their estimation. Here was a grown-up who meant what he said, and there hadn’t been too many of them in their lives. In their eyes Matt was reaching hero proportions.
And in Erin’s?
Cecil was quietly munching from his feed-box, and Erin ran a hand down his glossy back, forcing herself to think of practicalities rather than thinking of Matt. It was hard, but necessary. Matt was engaged to Charlotte, she reminded herself bluntly and, even if he hadn’t been, he was way out of her league. Even if her errant heart was starting to think otherwise.
It was just the way he smiled, she thought, and the way he made her smile right back. His gentleness, and his intuitive knowledge of little boys…
Cut it out, she told herself harshly. There were still things that needed to be settled.
‘I’ll… I’ll pay for us for the hotel accommodation,’ she told him, but he shook his head.
‘Nope. The boys worked hard for this. This is their payment.’
‘But-’
He held up his hand. ‘No buts. Just say thank you kindly, and go to bed.’
She grinned at that. ‘Thank you kindly and go to bed,’ she said, and the twins giggled.
It was a great sound. She looked down at their exhausted but happy faces, and she could have kissed the man who’d made this happen.
She darn near did-but she remembered all too well what had happened last time she’d tried something like that.
Once was enough.
Any more might be a disaster.
So at nine the next morning she was in the car, following the truck which was towing Cecil.
They had to go separately. The truck didn’t fit five bodies and Erin’s car wasn’t strong enough to tow the trailer.
Charlotte’s BMW could have done it, but Matt had enough sense not to suggest it. Charlotte was angry enough already, and to have the twins sitting on her gorgeous leather upholstery would be unthinkable. She hadn’t suggested it herself, although he knew she didn’t like travelling in his truck.
This way, though, she had Matt to herself and Erin was forced back into her place.
Behind her betters.
Which Erin didn’t mind at all, she decided as she watched the trailer disappear around the first bend. They were moving fast. Let them go.
As the boys snoozed contentedly in the back, she turned the radio up and she sang along to schmaltzy songs at the top of her voice.
She was taking her boys to the Lassendale Show. They were happy, she was happy and not even Charlotte could spoil this one for her.
It was hard to say who was more impressed-Erin or the boys.
The show was an agricultural paradise. It lasted for two weeks. Matt had only come for the two days of Hereford judging and showing, but there were exhibitors there who’d camped the entire time.
As an exhibitor Matt had passes and he’d given one to Erin before he left. Therefore she parked her car easily enough, at the foot of the mountain that overlooked Lassendale, and then strolled with her two dumbstruck charges through the throng of people out to enjoy themselves.
Lassendale had started off a century before as a tiny country cattle show. Now, it was the biggest show in Australia, in the most gorgeous setting. The natural bush-land had hardly been disturbed. Apart from the show ring and the cattle pavilions, the displays and side-shows were set up under clusters of spreading gums. Crowded or not, the place retained its natural beauty, and the sound of the distant sea could be heard whispering beneath the hubbub of the crowd.
Erin looked around her and felt a frisson of excitement building. It was gorgeous!
‘We can afford to take our time,’ she told the boys. There were things here the boys would boggle at-amazing machinery, scary ghost rides and clowns where you poked ping pong balls into their mouths because ‘every player wins a prize’.
Matt and Charlotte would already be here with Cecil, but they wouldn’t need Erin or the twins. The judging was not for an hour. There were so many things to keep the boys entertained that she could take her time to find them.
But… ‘We need to see Cecil straight away.’ The boys were tugging her hands with urgency. ‘What if Matt needs us to help? He might not get him looking beautiful in time. What if he lay down in the straw and messed his coat? And we want to see the judging. Erin, hurry.’
Erin grinned. They felt totally responsible for the bull, and she could only hope he didn’t let them down when it came to judging time.
Not that it really mattered. If the judges didn’t think Cecil was magnificent then the boys would simply decree him an idiot and do their own judging. In their eyes, Cecil was simply the best.
As was Matt, and Erin didn’t take much persuading to turn her feet toward the cattle pavilion. Even if he was with Charlotte…
The boys were right. Cecil did look magnificent. Standing in his stall he seemed to have gained an aura of winner about him that hadn’t existed at home.
‘He’s a born champion,’ Matt told them as he stood back and admired his bull with pride. ‘See how he holds his head? He never does that at home. He knows there are people looking at him, and it’s all he can do not to preen.’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake…’ Charlotte had been jolted to bits in Matt’s truck, she’d been stuck here for an hour while Matt groomed his precious bull and she wanted to be off to see the horses. But she couldn’t go because Erin and the boys were coming, and some basic instinct told her she’d best stick around. But she didn’t need to be gracious about it. ‘The way you talk about him, you’d think he was intelligent!’
‘You’re saying my bull’s not intelligent?’ Matt teased her with his eyes but she didn’t smile back. She wasn’t in the mood for smiling.
‘I know he’s worth a fortune, but he’s a bull, Matt.’
‘Now you could put it much more diplomatically than that,’ Erin told her, while the boys petted and fondled Cecil as if he was a very large and dopey dog rather than a pedigree bull. ‘You could say you’re sure he’s almost as intelligent as his owner, and Matt would have to take it as a compliment.’ Then, as Charlotte paused to work that one out, she scooped the boys back from the bull. ‘Leave him be, boys. Matt has to take him through for judging now.’
‘We want to watch.’
‘It’ll take an hour or so before we know the outcome,’ Matt warned. ‘The judges look at everything.’
‘We’ll wait,’ Henry said firmly, and Matt and Erin exchanged looks. What harm could they get into? Matt’s raised eyebrows asked, and Erin’s imperceptible shake of her head told him she had the utmost faith in the boys to be on their best behaviour.
As they were.
No one was allowed near the cattle during judging. Only their owners stood by their side as the judges went over every inch of each beast.
Most family and friends took this time off to visit the fairgrounds-for something far more exciting than watching men watch cattle-but for all the interminable judging time the boys stood with bodies leaning over the fence that divided the public from the judging ring.
